Food For Profit: American Food vs. Normal Food

A handful of powerful companies own nearly 80 percent of the groceries that ordinary Americans buy, according to a new analysis.

In fact, a few powerful multinationals control every link in the food chain: from seeds and fertilizers to slaughterhouses and supermarkets to grain and beer.

These mega-companies grew in size, power and profits thanks to political lobbying and lax regulation, enabling a wave of uncontrolled mergers and acquisitions. This is important because the size and influence of these mega-corporations allows them to largely dictate what America's 2 million farmers grow and how much they are paid, as well as what consumers eat and how much we pay for our groceries. It also means that those who harvest, pack and sell us our food have the least power: at least half of the ten lowest paying jobs are in the food industry. Farms and meatpacking plants are the most dangerous and exploitative workplaces in the country.

Generally, only 15 cents of every dollar spent at the supermarket goes to farmers. The rest goes to food processing and marketing.

It's a system designed to funnel money into the hands of corporate shareholders and executives, while exploiting farmers and workers and depriving consumers of choice, abundance and efficiency.